Movable packer for testing of pipe



1954 s. O'DONNELL MOVABLE PACKER FOR TESTING OF PIPE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 15, 1949 United States Patent MOVABLE PACKER FOR TESTING OF PIPE Gladys ODonnell, Long Beach, Calif- Application August 15, 1949, Serial No. 110,433

3 Claims. (Cl. 166-138) s ntion r l te o a m vabl packer whi h. m y be used in the testing of oil well; pipe or for other purposes in an oil well.

My invention relates, to, a. packer which can, be moved vertically within an oil well pipe to secure a seal within the pipe at predetermined levels so. that, hydraulic pressurf may be applied above the packer to test the pipe for lea 's.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved packer which may be set at any level desired in a string of oil well pipe and when hydraulic pressure is applied to the pipe the packer will absolutely seal the pipe at the bottom of the area to be tested.

A feature of my invention is to prevent the. loss of fluid used in the testing process and permitting, the: use of the same column of fluid for innumerable succeeding tests.

Another feature of my invention is to provide a means to raise a column of testing fluid through successive stands of tubing as these stands are lowered into the wel and to prevent loss of fluid while it is being so moved.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a packer which may be raised or lowered together with the column of fiuid above it, into a new position and reset at will by simply discontinuing its vertical travel and permitting the weight of the fluid to come to rest upon it.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention may appear from the accompanying drawing, the subjoined detailed description and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a disassembled side view of my packer with a parts broken away to show interior construction.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the spring latch with parts broken away to show interior construction.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of my packer in position in a pipe.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the upper portion of my packer.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the lower portion of my packer.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, my packer includes a slip assembly 1, a packer assembly 2, and a cup assembly 3. These assemblies are all superimposed to form a single tool, as will be further described.

Starting first with the slip assembly 1, this includes a slip body 4 with slips 5 mounted thereon, these slips being vertically movable on the slip body 4 and are of the usual and well known construction. As is usual in slip constructions, upward sliding movement of the slips 5 on the body 4 will cause the slips to move outwardly to engage the inner wall of the pipe P in which the packer is placed. The slips 5 are all attached to a slip hanger ring 5' and this hanger ring moves vertically with the slips on the body 4.

A head 6 is mounted on the lower end of the slip assembly and this head acts as a weight and guide, as will be further described. The head 6 is threaded on to a mandrel 7, substantially as shown. A plurality of spring steel fingers 8 are attached to sleeves 9 and 10, which have a limited sliding movement on the mandrel 7. The upper end of the mandrel 7 screws into the slip body 4, thus connecting the head 6 and the slip body. The springs 8 drag against the inside of the pipe in which the tool is run with suificient pressure that these springs and the sleeves 9 and 10 will tend to drag behind the direction of movement of the tool. A spring latch 11 is pivotally mounted on the mandrel 7 and is pressed outwardly by the .springy12, as shown in Figure 2, thus engaging the top. of the sleeve 10 and holding the springs 3 in their lowermost position, as shown in Figures 1 and 5.

Explaining first the resetting of the slips 5 when the movement of the packer is upward:

On upward movement of the mandrel 7 the slip hanger 5' will move away from the sleeve 9, thus permitting the slips 5 to slide inwardly on their tapered seats and disengage from the pipe. To reset the slips it is only necessary to move the packer downwardly a short distance and the drag of the springs 8 against the inside of the pipe will cause the sleeve 9- to engage the slip hanger ring 5' and wedge the slips 5 outwardly against the inside of the pipe.

To lower the packer, the entire assembly including the mandrel 7 is first raised, as previously described, until the slips 5 are released or disengaged from the pipe. The mandrel 7 is now turned to the right until the stop lug 13 on the sleeve 10 engages the lug 14 on the top of the head 6. A finger 15 is mounted on top of the. sleeve 10 and this finger has a tapered surface on the inside thereof so that it can engage and press the latch 11 inwardly. The finger 15 on the top of the sleeve 10 is now pressing the latch 11 inwardly, thus permitting the sleeve in andthe spring fingers 8 to slide vertically on the mandrel '7 a short distance, for example eight to ten inches. The slips 5 are now pressed upwardly and extended to engage the pipe. The mandrel is now turned again to the right until the stop lug 16 on the. slip hanger 5' engages the lug 17 on the top .of the sleeve 9., This. moves the finger 15 ofi of the latch 11 and again permits this latch to engage the collar 10 and hold the spring fingers 8 in the position shown in Figure 5. The slips 5 cannot be set when an obstruction in the well is encountered because the latch 11 is extended and is hearing against the bottom sleeve 10, thus preventing the sleeve and spring 8 assembly from moving upwardly and thus setting the slips.

An extension 18 of the mandrel 7 extends upwardly from the slip body 4 and a packing sleeve 19 surrounds this extension 18 and this packing sleeve is extensible to engage the inside of the pipe and seal ol'r' this pipe, as will be evident. The packing sleeve 19 is expanded by allowing the weight of the tool to hang on the slips 5. This compresses and expands the packing sleeve 19.

The packing sleeve 19 is expanded by compression and to accomplish this I provide a metal cylinder 26 above the packing sleeve 19 and resting on top of this packing sleeve. The extension mandrel 18 extends into the cylinder 20 and a projecting pin 21 on the extension mandrel 18 slides in the slot 22 in the cylinder 20. An upwardly opening cup 23 is mounted on top of the cylinder 20 by means of the threaded pin 24 and the cup 23 normally is extended to engage the inside of the pipe as shown in Figure 4. The threaded pin 24 extends upwardly a considerable distance and enters the expander. The top of the expander is threaded at its upper end to receive the pipe by which the tool is operated in the well. An expander 26 is slidably mounted on the pin 24 and on downward movement enters the cup 23, thus pressing this cup outward and forcing the cup into engagement with the wall of the pipe. A slot 27 in the expander acts as a guide therefor and the pin 23 extending from the pin 24 enters this slot and acts to limit the movement of the expander. Gravity and the weight of the pipe to which the tool is attached will cause the expander to drop downwardly to expand the cup 23, as will be evident.

In operation, assuming that the tool has been positioned at the point desired in the pipe and the slips 5 are engaging the pipe, the column of water in the pipe P is resting on the cup 23 and the entire static weight of this column of water is thus resting on the expander cup 23. Pressure is now exerted on the column of water at the surface and this added pressure on the water will expand the packing sleeve 19 by pressing the expander cup 23 downwardly thereby causing the sleeve 19 to expand. The slips 5 are engaging the pipe P and they act as a stop for the body 4 which acts as a shoulder for the bottom of the packing sleeve 19. This seals the pipe efiectively at the point of the packing sleeve 19 so that there will be no leakage past the packing sleeve. With sufiicient pressure on the column of water, the packing sleeve 19 can be pressed downwardly and expanded sufiicieutly so as to fill all irregularities in the pipe and effectively seal this pipe even though it may be scored and irregular.

When it is desired to raise the assembly, it is pulled upwardly. This takes the pressure 01E of the packing sleeve 19, permitting it to collapse and the Weight of the water is then supported on the cup 23, which drags upwardly, like a swab, engaging the inside of the pipe. When the new point is reached, the slips 5 are again set, thus preventing downward movement of the tool and again the weight of the column of water will rest on the expander cup 23 and the operation above described is repeated.

As previously described, by latching the slips 5 in retracted position the entire tool can be lowered in the spring of pipe to any depth desired.

Having described my invention, I claim:

. 1. A movable packer for the testing of pipe comprising a mandrel, slip means mounted on said mandrel and engageable with the pipe, an expansible packer mounted on the mandrel above the slip means, a cylinder slidably mounted on the mandrel and resting on the expansible packer, said cylinder being movable downwardly to expand the packer, and an expansible cup mounted on the upper end of said cylinder, said cup being engageable with the wall of the pipe upon expansion 'of the cup to support a column of fluid thereabove.

2. A movable packer for the testing of pipe comprising a mandrel, slip means mounted on the mandrel and engageable with the pipe, an expansible packer mounted on the mandrel above the slip means, a cylinder slidably mounted on the mandrel and resting on the expansible packer, said cylinder being movable downwardly to expand the packer, a pin rising from the cylinder, and an expansible cup mounted on the upper end of said cylinder, said cup being engageable with the wall of the pipe to support a column of fluid thereabove, and an expander slidably mounted on the pin above said cup and adapted to enter the cup to expand the same.

3. A movable packer for the testing of pipe c0mpris ing a mandrel, slip means mounted on the mandrel and engageable with the pipe, an expansible packer mounted on the mandrel above the slip means, a cylinder slidably mounted on the mandrel and resting on the expansible packer, said cylinder being movable downwardly to expand the packer, a pin rising from the cylinder, and an expansible cup mounted on the upper end of said cylinder, said cup being engageable with the wall of the pipe to support a column of fluid thereabove, and an expander slidably mounted above said cup and adapted to enter the cup to expand the same, said expander being mounted on the pin for vertical movement relative to the cup.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,077,566 Stinson Nov. 4, 1913 1,262,107 Sheasley Apr. 9, 1918 1,374,307 McKissick Apr. 12, 1921 1,801,334 Dalldorf et al Apr. 21, 1931 1,892,442 Wickersham Dec. 27, 1932 2,106,392 Guiberson Jan. 25, 1938 2,109,745 Hayward Mar. 1, 1938 2,228,630 Kail Jan. 14, 1941 

